Kim Dotcom has launched the beta version of his encrypted voice and video chat service called MegaChat, which is being touted as a "Skype killer."

Dotcom, Internet entrepreneur and the founder of the defunct file-sharing website Megaupload, tweeted on Wednesday night about the "step by step" release of MegaChat as a beta service, starting with video calls.

Dotcom's current New Zealand-based file-sharing service, Mega, doesn't require extra software make video calls on a browser, though Mega does offer Chrome and Firefox extensions to "reduce loading times" and "strengthen security."

Mega says the browser-based chat service offers end-to-end encryption — a pointed swipe at Skype, which came under scrutiny after reports that Microsoft helped the National Security Agency spy on Skype users.

Image: MegaChat

But Dotcom and Mega's security credibility has also been called into question. In 2013, Mega's claim that it didn't require any software downloads for encryption ("It's all happening in your web browser!" the website reads) was "widely debunked as insecure," according to Forbes.

The Guardian reports that passwords were stolen from Mega shortly after its debut in 2013.

But Dotcom claims all such problems are in the site's past, and offered a "security bounty" Thursday on Twitter to any hackers who could find current flaws in Mega.

Since the announcement, Dotcom claims MegaChat has "gone viral," with more than 1 million invitations sent out by users. Dotcom also claimed on Twitter that there will be mobile apps for MegaChat "ASAP."

#MegaChat is going viral. Over a million email invitations sent out by our users since the beta launched yesterday.

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